emysemys said:Tortus said:Well, I'm growing some indoors for now since it's cold in MD, but I plan on putting them outside this spring.
Anyway, all I did was buy some Miracle Grow organic potting soil at Walmart and put it in a container with lots of drainage at the bottom. I saturated the soil, then stuck the pads in about 1/4 of the way down.
Your new growth should be round just like the original pads. The reason they're growing straight up like they are is because they're straining to get to the light. That particular new growth will never look normal, but if you want new growth to look like its supposed to, you're going to have to get those cuttings out into the sun.
I know what you mean when it comes to stretching for light. I'm not new to plant growing. But don't let the angle fool you. The new growth is mostly perpendicular to the original pads, so you don't see how wide it is in these particular pics.
On the second pad from the left, the left pad on that "pad" is growing straight before you, and you see that it appears rounder.
I'm not denying that natural sun would be much better, but I think for now they're doing fine and will blossom when I put them outside.
If you'd like I can take pics from another angle so you can see the actual width of the new growth.
Anyways, here's a pic form another angle:
As you can see, the shorter, rounder pad has a shorter rounder growth, but the longer pad has a longer growth. And the longer pad is much closer to the light, so why would it be straining more to reach it? The longer pad is only inches from the light. It can feel the heat from the bulb.
I really don't know, I'm new to growing cacti. But the growth seems to be mimicking the original pad.
I'll just see how they do outside this spring. Any additional info is appreciated.